Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings posts give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.
Welcomings will be posted at the start of each week (usually Saturday night with a Sunday date). To find the posts, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).
The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.
So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?
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NOTE: The comments page will split off after 20 or so left margin comments with the most recent comments on the current page. To see the older comments, scroll to the bottom of the page (right before “Leave A Reply”) and use the Pages Tool to view previous pages, shown here with 3 pages of comments available and Page 2 circled.
Good Wednesday morning, Moosekind! It’s 55 F. in Ashburn right now, on its way to 63 F. We had a sunny but breezy day yesterday. I didn’t believe in the rain when the sun set, in view of the anemic-looking clouds in the sky but behold: for once the prediction of evening rain held true. It began raining soon after 8 p.m. and continued in a most satisfactory manner. This morning the edges of the screened porch are still damp, which means that it must have continued through the night. Otherwise, the porch would have dried by now.
I just managed to rescue the porch cushions in time. Earlier I went out to buy flowers and pick up the cake. However, we were so full of mismanaged chicken pot pie at dinner that we didn’t eat the cake, which is reposing prettily in the fridge.
I want a day of not leaving the campus. I have clothes to fold, checks to write, and I need to get to the gym before my figure deteriorates completely. Problem is, after I take my meds, I feel completely enervated. Will have to ask the cardie about that tomorrow.
Glad bfitz had a nice birthday and that Ron K feels better. I cannot BELIEVE what he is doing to the East Wing of the White House! I read what the IDF has been doing to Palestinian children. They’re like Nazis! And I began reading the Virginia Giuffre memoir, Nobody’s Girl. Made me want to drown myself in the nearest pond. Why do certain depraved males believe it’s their right to rape little girls? And how come “the Mom” allows it? Revolting!
More and more I agree with my late father: if the human race annihilates itself, if there’s anyone left to write an epitaph on a tombstone, it should consist of two words: Good riddance.
Wail, now that I’ve cheered y’all up, I’ll leave you to contemplate the end of The American Experiment. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
I am increasingly thinking “good riddance” as well. I was reading about the new Comet Lemmon that is in the evening sky (named after the Mount Lemmon I see every day and the astronomical laboratory on the top of it) and wondered about the occasional scares about a comet or meteor crashing into the earth. Of course, it won’t be as dramatic and relatively painless – it will be slowly boiling to death or burning up in wildfires or drowned in hurricanes surge. There, now I have done my cheering people up. :)
Heh!
Good morning, 42, cloudy, and autumn leaves outside my windows today. I bought a red twig dogwood to replace the virvurnum yesterday. It’s a PNW native variety with beautiful red branches for winter, white blossoms in the spring and burgundy berries in the fall so it will be a nice addition to the garden. It wasn’t expensive so I bought a 5 gallon plant and as it grows fast I may be around to see see it become a more mature plant.
I got my desk put together yesterday, tended a big W11 update with the desk computer, and then hit a computer snafu while paying bills. I seem to have less tolerance (and more anxiety) re computer issues lately. So when the customer service person said Ron needed to be the one requesting assistance I lost my temper, played the “but I’m 80” card, and got the help I needed, grrrrr!
Time for tea and solitaire. As always my best wishes to all.
I love the red twig dogwoods! We cannot have them here but they were a part of every yard I have had for the past 40 years.
I “discovered” a new bush here that I have fallen in love with, the
MexicanRed Bird of Paradise. It has the most delightful and complex blooms and every time I look at it I find something new about it – the other day I noticed that the seed pods turn a burgundy (or merlot?) color as they mature. I will post some photos shortly.The closeup:
The seed pods:
Striking!
Love seeing the seeds and berries against the blue sky, thanks!
Thursday Meese. Lazy day for me.
Puerto Rico
Good morning. Back to my walking routine. Still no fall weather here, though they say maybe this weekend. Terrible sleep. In the office, ugh.
Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 64 degrees in Tucson 🌵 with an expected daytime high of 81. Sunny skies are in the forecast. Another perfect day in the Old Pueblo.
Speaker Johnson is lying his ass off about Arizona’s new Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva being able to help her constituents without being sworn in. She was locked out of the Congressional District’s email and computer accounts, the district office lease was cancelled and she can’t hire staff. She and the people who are working with her have one computer as she is sending constituents to other congressional offices to get help. He is a nasty man and I hope we can send him to the back bench where people as mean and hateful as him belong.
WTH is Bernie Sanders doing? Isn’t there anyone left in America who thinks that men shouldn’t be given a free pass for being terrible people in their past? The “boys will be boys” etch-a-sketching is not okay especially when it uncovers an unforgivable character flaw. Girls who are raped have to carry the demon spawn to term and suffer and sometimes die but a young man who embraces nazism, white supremacy, misogyny, racism, and violent ideations can become a US Senator? Fk that, really, fk that.
I can’t look at the pictures of the destruction of the White House. It has always been a troubling building and maybe it should all be torn down but what the Republicans are allowing to happen to please their cult leader is disgusting. May they soon reap what they have sown.
I am about 45 minutes from finishing the one thing I absolutely need to get done today so I best get back to it.
See all y’all later!
Good Thursday morning, Meese! It’s 52 F. in Ashburn right now, on its way up to 60 F. There’s a frost warning for some parts of Virginia tonight. GOOD. It will kill all the lantern flies fer sure, fer sure.
I was having a very complicated dream early this morning before I was awakened by such bad arthritis in my feet that I could have uttered one scree-am. Leapt out of bed, applied Aspercreme where it would do the most good, then shuffled into the kitchen to make the Early Morning Tea.
Today I have what would have been a relatively simple excursion to the cardiologist for an echocardiogram (whatever that is) and a consultation, which is going to be considerably complicated by having to take D. to the ER to have the sutures taken out. He has to hump this huge, old-fashioned oxygen tank with him when he leaves our flat, which is why we haven’t been anywhere. We’re trying to get a portable oxygen tank for him but it’s uphill work.
Meantime, I’m becoming depressed by staying within these four walls, seeing no friends, never going to the gym, no joining in the UU dinners, and so forth.
Listen to me whine! There are people with REAL problems elsewhere. Thanks for letting me vent!
Princesspat–
This sounds so heavenly! Yours and Jan’s descriptions and pictures of trees are greatly comforting in a world of awful news.
I need to get ready for the day. Wishing as good a day as possible to all at the Pond.
It’s 44 heading for 77 and sunny at the moment. Yesterday we generated 7.16 KWHs and the m-t-d at 175.21 lost more ground. And we’re about to lose a lot more ground. Today is the last “sunny” day until next Wednesday, maybe rain with all those clouds, and our highs are predicted to be what our lows were just a week ago. Nothing below freezing yet but Winter is definitely moving in.
Got a real scare this morning. Last night I didn’t make sure the sunporch door was fully latched and when I got up it was open and the cats were outside. And had been long enough that Freddie was at the back door wanting to come in. Cloud was in the backyard eating grass but no problem to pick up and bring in. Bobbie – who never goes outside – was sitting on the carport almost but not quite under the car. I opened the door wider for him to walk himself in but he just sat there looking at me. A few minutes later he moved to a position where I could pick him up and he let me do so. All cats indoors, present and accounted for. (And fed of course.) But it was a jolt.
What is going on in the world is terrible and we/U.S. is a large part of why. If we aren’t doing the evil ourselves we instigated it and/or are supporting it. Meanwhile a whole lot of folks are just trying to survive – eat, stay indoors, get healthcare when needed. What I can do is boost those requests. So I’d best be about doing it. Holding the Good/Healing/Protecting Thought for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Good morning, 55 and cloudy in Bellingham today. I’m at the surgery center waiting for Ron to be stitched up. He needs a skin graft this time so it’s a bit more involved. I’m reading a new Jodi Taylor book on my Kindle, but wish I had a coffee.
We planted the dogwood tree yesterday and it looks like it belongs there, yay! Best wishes to all.
Good morning, 55 and cloudy in Bellingham today. I’m at the surgery center waiting for Ron to be stitched up. He needs a skin graft this time so it’s a bit more involved. I’m reading a new Jodi Taylor book on my Kindle, but wish I had a coffee.
We planted the dogwood tree yesterday and it looks like it belongs there, yay! Best wishes to all.
Good morning. We are supposed to get rain tonight, after 45 days. They’re worried about flash flooding. Maybe this time, they’ll take precautions.
Good morning, meeses! Friday …
It is 57 degrees in Tucson 🌵 with an expected daytime high of 79. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
Apparently the person in the White House in charge of monitoring butthurts was asleep at the wheel and missed the diss of the Felon during the American League Championship Games earlier in the week where the Province of Ontario aired an advertisement criticizing tariffs – using one of Ronald Reagan’s speeches! I recognized the voice and then at the end they showed a clip of him reading the text. I laughed at the time, now apparently the Whiny Baby in Chief is going to end negotiations with Canada over tariffs. I would not rule out that he will cancel all visas for Canadians and block them from entering the United States for the World Series which will be played in Toronto for 2 games and Los Angeles for at least 2 games. Would a petty vindictive man who has pathological self-esteem issues, especially when being compared to other presidents, do something like that? Stay tuned!
I have things to do this morning and should get back to them.
See all y’all later!
It’s 54 heading for 59 overcast and drizzling at the moment. Supposed to rain all day today. Yesterday we generated 6.3 KWHs and the m-t-d at 181.5 lost more ground.
Taking a break from helping Natalia look for her car key. It slipped off the ring sometime after she got home yesterday and we’ve been half an hour looking for it thus far. And of course there isn’t a spare. Not sure what to do next.
Taking Cloud to the vet for his monthly OA injection today. Couldn’t get my preferred 12:30 and am stuck with 2 pm. Oh well. Hopefully I won’t have to go back again for another month. Meanwhile, I’d best be about my boosting day. Holding the Good/Healing/Protecting Thought for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Unfortunately, car keys today are not cheap to replace which is why when people lose or misplace their spare they rarely get it replaced and simply hope that they don’t lose the original. I think the fancy car keys with the startup fob cost over $250. Even my key for my 22 year old car cost $75 to replace a few years back when a careless auto mechanic broke the plastic case that houses the actual key. I hope you can find the key!
She did. Midmorning while she was sorting through more boxes and bags from the move. Thanks.
Friday Meese Have to see doc today – glad it isn’t raining. Am disgusted with all the St. Bernard Bros supporting Platner.
Not much news in English on Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Prayers lifted for Caribbean folks in the path of Melissa
Good morning, 61 and windy in Bellingham today. Ron is looking a bit battered with stitches on the side of his face and the skin graft site on his shoulder. He feels ok, but we were both so tired yesterday we napped the afternoon away and then went to bed. He needs to sleep with his head elevated, avoid bending over, no cardio exercise, limit driving, etc for the next week but that’s minor compared to what melanoma can cause. We are very grateful this was caught early. Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Saturday …
It is 57 degrees in Tucson 🌵 with an expected daytime high of 82. Sunny skies are in the forecast. Today the roofing crew is expected to arrive to repair the leaky roof. There has been no recent rain and none in the forecast but the longer it goes unrepaired, the more likely it will not be repaired before the winter rains start. I intend to stay a squeaky wheel until I see the crew finish the repair.
The SNAP program running out of money will be a big test. Republicans have always counted on Democrats to cave in a shutdown confrontation because they know that Democrats are the Anti-Letting-People-Starve Party. I hate that the hungry and homeless and sick are always the pawns in these budget battles but when 51% of the country votes for a unified government under Republican control there needs to be a rude awakening: you can’t let people who hate everyone who is Not Them and who hate governing take control of the government. And that their leader is more interested in building himself a palace to soothe the palace-envy he gets when he travels to Europe than in whether or not people are hungry in the country he was elected to govern is not going to help. I hope that state governments can find some resources to fill the gaps until Republicans come to their senses and pass a CR that includes extending the ACA subsidies and runs past the holidays.
The Social Security COLA is 2.8% which is better than last year but not enough to cover the food inflation much less the cost of other products seniors need. They should have added a Deranged Psychopathic Tariff boost to cover the cost of products artificially inflated by the Seeping Orange Pustule’s actions.
I have two whole days where my schedule is controlled only by me and I am assembling a list that will maximize the number of things that I can check off my list.
See all y’all later!
Good morning Meese. Posted
Good morning. We got rain! And it’s cooler, not long sleeves cool, but it’ll do. Today: laundry, exercise, cooking. I’ve got to make lunch for next week, cobbling things together last week did not work. But I also need to just enjoy the finally cool weather.
Good Saturday morning, Meese, and happy St. Crispin’s Day! It’s 42 F. and sunny in Ashburn, heading for 60 F. It’s a perfect day for fighting the perfidious French:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall hold themselves accurs’d they were not here
And hang their heads for shame whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon St. Crispin’s Day.
Good for Henry V of England, winning the battle of Agincourt against an enemy force whose troops vastly exceeded those of the English army.
This is also my beloved nephew’s birthday. He’s 51. It’s hard to believe that the little boys who made so much noise are now grown up with families of their own.
Yesterday got away from me completely. This morning I had the misfortune to spill my Early Morning Tea on the living room carpet. The carpet is kind of tea-colored anyway. We need to buy a new carpet and put it down over the old one. For reasons too tedious to explain, we can’t simply have the wall-to-wall carpet taken out and fake hardwood floors put down, which is what I’d really like to do.
Gotta run. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond, thinking particularly of Ron K. Guess what wakes me up these dark mornings now? Arthritis pains in my feet. Old age ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.
It’s 55 heading for 58 overcast and misting. More rain in the forecast. For all the clouds and drizzle yesterday we only got .8″ of actual rain. My PV data page won’t load today. Sigh. The internet is being really slow and that thing is slow to load anyway so it keeps timing out. From my memory of checking just before I shut down last night, we’d generated a little over 1 KWH and the m-t-d at 181 had lost a lot more ground. If this keeps up we won’t make 200 this month and go from the best ever last year to worst ever this year. sigh.
After a half hour of searching for her key yesterday, Natalia gave up, called work & said she wouldn’t be coming in but would remote in for the Chair search meeting in the afternoon (which she did). Then she made use of the time at home to sort through more boxes and bags. She found the key about midmorning in one of the bags she didn’t remember even being around the night before. And now her room and the living room look more like rooms and less like storage units. LOL. Still a ways to go but a whole lot closer to being done.
Cloud is maintaining his weight and didn’t seem upset at the vet visit and injection. I guess/hope he’s getting used to these monthly excursions to the vet clinic. Anyway, I’d best be about my boosting day. Holding the Good/Healing/Protecting Thought for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Good afternoon, 61 and cloudy in Bellingham today. RonK is feeling much better so he did a few errands this morning but met his activity limit so he is resting now. I’ve had a quiet morning with music, solitaire, and talking to my kids via phone. This afternoon a friend is coming to pick some hydrangeas to dry for her Thanksgiving table. It’s nice to have blooms to share this year. Best wishes to all.